Charlottes, Commies, and China Dishes: The Abundance of Children’s Toys from The Hermitage
Author(s): Colleen Betti
Year: 2018
Summary
The lives of children enslaved on American plantations are poorly documented and often overlooked in the archaeological record. Excavations at the Hermitage have produced a large number of toys that can provide valuable insights into the lives of this understudied population. Over half of the toys in the DAACS database are from the Hermitage. This paper looks to compare the toys from the Hermitage to those from the other North American sites in DAACS to better understand why the Hermitage has such an abundance of toys. While changes in manufacturing made toys more affordable by the later 19th century, the toys from the Hermitage also fit into a pattern of changing attitudes towards children with an increasing emphasis on play and the importance of toys in children’s socialization.
Cite this Record
Charlottes, Commies, and China Dishes: The Abundance of Children’s Toys from The Hermitage. Colleen Betti. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, New Orleans, Louisiana. 2018 ( tDAR id: 441915)
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Keywords
General
Children
•
Hermitage
•
Toys
Geographic Keywords
North America
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United States of America
Temporal Keywords
18th-19th century
Spatial Coverage
min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology
Record Identifiers
PaperId(s): 284